blessing pictures

racqual took these pictures of her in her blessing dress. she wasn't real cooperative (what's new), but i think they still turned out great.

swinging with phillip and david

bonnie and i have been exercising in the morning and phillip and david wanted to come to my house afterwards. it is kind of fun having kids without their parents around, you get to know them a little better. we were working on a puzzle (well mostly me)and aurelie was in her swing. they started pushing her back and forth and amazingly, she fell asleep in her swing (which never happens). i guess she just needed a little more altitude. cindy hardy asked me the other day when she was trying to quiet her down while sitting if she had "altitude sickness." i was a little confused until she said, "you have to stand up with her." i quickly said oh yes, she definitely has altitude sickness.

Photobook customized with Smilebox

stratton update

racqual did this picture of her hands and her feet and i just love it!

monica did these of aurelie at 6 days old, she wasn't real cooperative, but monica was very patient with her and did a wonderful job!

it has been so fun getting this little girl photographed (thank you monica for these beautiful pictures). racqual took some just a few weeks ago when she is a little older, but i haven't got them back yet and can't figure out how to put the smilebox on my blog. she is so photogenic when you can get her to stop crying. i feel pretty worn out lately because she isn't the best baby, but that is something i have dealt with in the past with my other 2 (hence the reason there is a 7 year gap). i still don't think i was ready emotionally to do the newborn thing again. it is pretty draining when you are constantly sleep deprived (you know that it is a form of torture). blake has been working a lot lately and i am frustrated because i never get a break and he is frustrated because he feels like he never gets a break. i have to say that i started doing scriptures with the kids even when blake is working instead of leaving it up to him to gather our family together for prayer and scriptures before bed. anyway, it has seemed to help us become stronger as a family. i can't believe the blessings that it has brought to our family in the few short months that we have been doing it (don't get me wrong, were not 100%, but we make an effort to be). it just seems like things go more smoothly. anna has been so much help with the baby. i have some pictures of her bouncing aurelie on the ball that i am going to have to post, that is about the only way we can quiet her down sometimes. she already knows exactly what she wants and gets very upset when we don't respond immediately to her needs. you can tell i'm tired now and that is why i am so scatterbrained, i will write more later. p.s. we got the garden tilled up so nice and now it has been raining for the last 24 hours, so we'll have to do that again before we plant. i love my greens and wish i was a better gardener so that i had fresh greens all year round.